A Shopify Hydrogen studio for DTC brands outgrowing app-heavy Shopify setups and seeking more control and measurable growth from their commerce.
A Shopify Hydrogen studio for DTC brands outgrowing app-heavy Shopify setups and seeking more control and measurable growth from their commerce.
21phi designs, builds and keeps running headless storefronts on Hydrogen, Oxygen and the Storefront API for Shopify Plus brands, and stays embedded with your team as the people who own the store after launch.
21phi designs product pages, collection grids, design systems and campaign visuals for Shopify Plus brands, builds them on Shopify Hydrogen, and stays as the team that keeps the storefront sharp after launch.
21phi builds and runs the analytics layer for Shopify Plus and Hydrogen storefronts, from pixels and event taxonomy to attribution, cohorts and a weekly review, and stays embedded as the team that answers the next question.
21phi turns funnel data, UX friction and merchandising gaps into a disciplined A/B testing program on Shopify, read by segment, and stays embedded with your team to act on what it finds.
21phi runs Klaviyo email and SMS for Shopify and Shopify Plus brands as part of the same team that builds and supports the storefront.
21phi builds search visibility into the storefront itself: technical SEO on Shopify Hydrogen, structured data an AI assistant can read, and a team that stays after launch to keep both working.
The real work starts after launch.
21phi builds and runs Shopify Plus storefronts on Hydrogen, then stays embedded with your team as the people who close every request, from checkout logic to a broken app.
21phi plans and runs Shopify migrations, from a Liquid theme to Hydrogen, from Shopify to Shopify Plus, or from another platform onto Shopify, and stays on as the team that runs the store afterwards.
21phi is a Shopify Hydrogen agency with Shopify Plus experience, based in Toronto and working with direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands across North America, the United States first. It is for brands that have outgrown an app-heavy Shopify theme and want one embedded team to design, build and keep running the storefront, rather than a developer who ships and leaves.
Shopify Hydrogen is Shopify's React-based framework for building headless storefronts on top of Shopify's Storefront API; current versions are built on React Router (formerly Remix). Headless means the storefront front end is decoupled from Shopify's back office and checkout and talks to Shopify through APIs; Shopify still runs products, orders, customers and checkout. For a brand, that means fast pages and the things a theme cannot express: product systems, colorway logic, account areas, launch pages.
Storefronts run on Oxygen, Shopify's global edge hosting for Hydrogen storefronts, included with Shopify plans. Checkout stays Shopify-hosted, and we tell clients plainly what it can and cannot do. See Shopify Hydrogen development for the full scope of a build.
Most brands start by looking for a Shopify development agency. What they need is a team that stays. An embedded team is 21phi's engagement model after launch: the agency works inside the client's channels and roadmap as the storefront, analytics and growth team, on a monthly retainer scoped per client. We sit in the client's own group chats for web, customer care and the wider team. Requests come from every department and all of them land with us: a final-sale label from customer care, an inventory sync that stopped flowing, a landing page for a color drop, a navigation change from the founder. Third-party apps are integrated rather than bolted on, and when one breaks, we chase the vendor. See how we work.
Working with 21phi feels like having a senior engineer and an analyst on your own team, with a named senior person on the other end rather than a ticket queue. Every change gets a preview link before it ships. Urgent fixes go to the front of the queue, not into the next sprint. Every week we walk you through what changed in the funnel, by segment, and what to test next. Framework, package and Shopify API upkeep is a standing monthly item in our support and maintenance work, so the storefront does not break quietly. We are a Shopify Partner with Shopify Plus experience. We also say when a request is better deferred, or when the platform will not allow it.
This costs more than a body shop, and it should. A body shop sells hours and forgets your store between tickets. An embedded team carries the context: the product system, the tracking layer, the reason a decision was made. That context is what makes the next request fast and the next launch calm, and it is the difference between a Shopify Hydrogen agency that ships and leaves and a partner that stays.
21phi is not the right fit for every store. If the catalog is simple and a well-built Liquid theme would do, we will say so on the first call. If you want the cheapest option, or a hand-over with no one on the other end afterwards, a body shop will serve you better. If you want one team that owns the storefront, the analytics and the growth work, and answers when something breaks, start with the form below.
21phi is a Shopify Hydrogen agency with Shopify Plus experience, based in Toronto, Canada, working with direct-to-consumer brands across North America, the United States first. It designs and builds headless Shopify storefronts, then stays on after launch as the embedded team that handles integrations, visuals, broken apps, urgent fixes and analytics. It is for brands that have outgrown an app-heavy theme and want one accountable senior team behind the store rather than a developer who ships and leaves. See Shopify Hydrogen development.
Many agencies hand over a finished store and move on. 21phi is an embedded partner: a small senior team that stays with the brand through good and bad days and closes any request from any department, from integrations of every kind and marketing visuals to broken apps, urgent fixes and analytics, with a named senior person on the other end. That costs more than a body shop, and it should: the context stays in the room, nothing is rediscovered, and fewer vendors blame each other.
An embedded team is 21phi's engagement model after launch: the agency works inside the client's channels and roadmap as the storefront, analytics and growth team, on a monthly retainer scoped per client. In practice 21phi is a member of the brand's group chats for web, customer care and the wider team, keeps a shared task board everyone can see, and runs a weekly analytics review. A question from any teammate is answered in the thread by the person who will do the work.
After launch the real work starts. 21phi stays on as the embedded team on a monthly retainer, scoped individually: framework, package and Shopify API version upkeep each month so the storefront does not break quietly; fixes for broken apps and integrations, including chasing the vendor; new features, landing pages for drops and campaigns, creative work; and a weekly analytics review. Requests from any department land with the same senior people who built the store. See Shopify support and maintenance.
When something breaks, a named senior person who already knows the store answers in the brand's own chat channel, not a ticket portal. 21phi sits in the client's web, customer care and team groups, so a problem reported by anyone is picked up by the person who will fix it. Urgent fixes go to the front of the queue, and a change asked for on a call goes straight onto the board with a preview link to follow. 21phi does not sell round-the-clock coverage or response-time guarantees, and says so.
A buyer's checklist for evaluating any headless Shopify partner: the criteria that matter, the questions to ask, the red flags, and how to tell real Hydrogen depth from a logo on a services page.
A Liquid theme is the right storefront for most Shopify stores. Hydrogen is worth it when the theme has become the limit and someone owns the code after launch. Here is how to tell which side you are on.
